What Ben Carson Just Said Will Have Conservatives Jumping For Joy

While the majority of presidential contenders have a clear professional trajectory culminating in a run for the highest office in the nation, some are thrust into the political fray by a sense of duty or in response to undeniable public demand.

Celebrated neurosurgeon Ben Carson apparently belongs in the latter group. Following his retirement, Carson has earned widespread support from conservatives drawn to his soft-spoken, principled embrace of traditional American values.

If Ben Carson runs for president I may cry tears of joy. I don’t even think I’m kidding. And I’d cry again if he chose Mike Huckabee as V.P.

A grassroots effort to compel him to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 has grown exponentially as his supporters donate both time and money to the cause. The hard work has not gone unnoticed by Carson.

“I certainly didn’t give it much thought early on,” he said of a potential White House run.

“So I am starting to think about it,” he confirmed. “But it certainly wasn’t on my bucket list when I retired.”

In an email to supporters, organizer John Philip Sousa IV indicated that the push to draft Carson as a candidate hit a major milestone in recent weeks.

Thanks to the support of about 300,000 supporters, he indicated that a super PAC, that National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, raised $7 million in time for a filing deadline with the Federal Elections Commission.

He also scored a big victory among conservatives at the recent Western Conservative Summit. He won that event’s straw poll by a significant margin, garnering 22 percent of the vote. His nearest competitors in that poll were Sen. Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin, who received 13 and 12 percent, respectively.